One of the first things that I ended up doing as a brand new 2d Lt at Goodfellow was to set up a promotion ceremony for my Squadron Commander. It was a project that I was handed shortly after returning from MRCO, and it was supposedly “almost completely finished” when the project folder was handed to me by the previous project officer, my buddy Lt G.
“I’m just really busy getting ready to leave,” he told me while handing me a thin manila folder, “So you will have to do this.”
The manila folder had a blank checklist in it.
“It’s really good exposure!” Lt G assured me. While that was true, when I was given the folder, I was also usurping a project that was nearly three months behind schedule, and I would be expected to coordinate every last detail, much of it with a Colonel that had already expressed a general disdain for Academy Lieutenants.
The Air Force loves its ceremonies. As a Lieutenant, I did three promotion ceremonies, two Change of Command Ceremonies, two Retirement Ceremonies, and a Parade in the first two years.
Some of them were enjoyable. Working on a retirement ceremony for someone I had grown to respect as a friend and mentor was a very rewarding experience. Putting together a Change of Command Ceremony for the Squadron was also very rewarding as I got to take take part in thanking the old commander while welcoming the new commander to the squadron.
Others were not so enjoyable.
Coordinating a Veteran’s day parade and getting different squadrons around the base to contribute Airmen willing to put on their Service Dress and march through the streets of San Angelo is difficult. It is made even more difficult in that the parade takes place on what would have been a day off. Finally, that difficulty is compounded due to the fact that, as a brand new 2d Lt, your Butter-bar carries next to no weight.
When you are placed in charge of these ceremonies as the “Project Officer” as the Air Force likes to call it, you are stuck between a rock and a hard place. At least I felt that way. The various events are a lot of work, and there are a lot of rules and regulations to follow. Despite being the youngest of the military branches, the Air Force does still like to follow some measure of tradition. Breaking those traditions inevitably would draw the ire of somebody in the crowd, and the most vocal ones would throw you under the bus. The rock was that if you put together the ceremony and it sucked, you were going to be remembered for that.
The hard place was that if you did well, you would be asked to perform more and more of them. No matter how you did, you were going to be remembered for how the ceremonial event went.
That first promotion ceremony went pretty well, if I say so myself, with only a few minor hiccups. That particular legacy followed me throughout my time as a Lieutenant, and even had to put together a couple ceremonies while I was “deployed” to al Udeid.
When I look back on my time at Goodfellow, there were two turning points, one more distinct than the other. The first turning point revolved around these ceremonies, and was considerably less distinct than the second.
In all honesty, the first could not really be referred to as a “point.” Rather it was a period of several months that occurred during the summer move cycle at Goodfellow as what felt like every Squadron and Group changed hands from one commander to the next.
The Contracting Squadron was included in this turnover, and I had mixed feelings. For one thing, Lt Col Hamilton had taken pretty good care of me. He had set me up to perform my job well, and made sure that I was exposed to the Contracting career field as much as possible. He had placed me in charge of a relatively large (and doomed) paving contract that I had been working on since earlier in the year, and through that I had gotten a lot of exposure.
On the other hand, Lt Col Hamilton had been at Goodfellow for quite a long time, and he had a pretty interesting job waiting for him at his next location and I was glad for him in that regard. The squadron had been assured that the incoming Commander was excellent. It was hard not to feel optimistic.
The other part of this moving season that gave me a sense of optimism was that almost all of the Group Commanders were changing over, including the Mission Support Group. When I realized this, I started telling myself “Colonel’s are temporary” whenever I found myself in a situation that required it.
Of course, being the only other Officer in the Contracting Squadron, our Change of Command Ceremony fell on my shoulders. Since I had this project from start to finish, and was able to start on time, I managed to coordinate everything much easier than the first promotion ceremony I had been given.
Unfortunately, this change of command also necessitated sitting in the Colonel’s office and going over minute details with regard to script, timing, flower arrangements, food, really everything that was to be a part of the event. I spent hours working with the Colonel going over changes he wanted me to make, and then unmake as he changed his mind from one week to the next.
Colonel’s are temporary.
When the day of the ceremony arrived, a few obstacles presented themselves early on. The first was that the base Honor Guard, the Airmen who typically perform the rituals regarding the U.S. Flag, showed up unannounced and unbidden. For this particular ceremony, it had been decided that speed was a primary concern, so we had, in accordance with the rules, had the flag posted in the room before the ceremony even begun.
The Staff Sergeant in charge of the Honor Guard detail had decided we needed their help anyway, and with a bit of arguing and directing, I managed to convince them to go find somewhere else to guard honor.
Arising next was the lineup of Airmen volunteers for the ceremony. There were a couple “escorts,” assigned to ensure the Distinguished Guests and family members found their assigned seats, and a couple of “ushers,” whose primary task was to hand out pamphlets I had created that had a background on the officiating officer (our Colonel), the outgoing Commander (Lt Col Hamilton), and the incoming Commander (Maj Travieso), as well as lyrics for the Air Force song and various cues for the audience to adhere too.
One of the Airmen originally assigned to escort came to me prior to the ceremony, and as all the Airmen assigned to escort were supposed to be wearing their Service Dress Uniform, it was not hard to see why this camouflage clad Airmen presented an issue for me and the impending ceremony.
“Ell-Tee,” he said, only somewhat sheepishly, “My Service Dress had a big stain on it, so I could not wear it.”
“Jesus H. Christ, Mongo,” using his squadron appointed nickname, “You couldn’t have checked it over last night or something?”
An excuse was given, but it did not really matter. The Change of Command Ceremony was to begin shortly, and I had no choice but to shoe-horn another Airman into the role of escort. The ceremony begun, and with the exception with the nearly obligatory sound issues at the beginning, everything went off without a hitch. At the end of the day, the Contracting Squadron had a new commander, and the old one was gleefully on his way to D.C.
A couple weeks later, I was sitting next to the new Squadron Commander in a fire truck garage with no air-conditioning watching the old, grumpy Colonel commanding the Mission Support Group get replaced with a new, more genial Colonel. A few days later, I was with the new Squadron Commander sitting in sun-soaked bleachers as the Wing Commander, another Colonel, retired. In her place another Colonel took command. So the cycle continued.
Colonels are temporary.